GAME REPORT

Mondeville Edge Polkowice In Nail-Biter

Amanda Lassiter starred for USO Mondeville with 18 points and six rebounds

USO Mondeville delivered what could prove to be a telling blow to the play-off prospects of CCC Polkowice after scraping to a priceless 65-63 success to complete a double over the Polish club in EuroLeague Women Group C.

The visitors had the opportunity to ensure their hosts finished the night with the same 3-4 record, but instead, the narrow defeat means they are staring down the barrel with five defeats from seven games, whilst Mondeville celebrated successive home-court wins.

Most impressively for Herve Coudray, was that this second tight victory of the season against CCC Polkowice was achieved with less than seven minutes from his standout center Naignouma Coulibay.

Stepping up to fill the void, Amanda Lassiter weighed in with 18 points and six rebounds, whilst Lithuanian Giedre Paugaite did the dirty work on the glass with 11 rebounds.

The first half saw a distinctive swing in momentum as USO Mondeville moved 19-13 in front but then found points hard to come by during the second period as CCC Polkowice held them to a meagre nine points.

That meant the away side held a slender one-point lead heading into the second half and the game still hung in the balance towards the end of the fourth quarter.

Belinda Snell sunk a triple to put CCC Polkowice 63-61 ahead with just over two minutes on the clock, but the visitors didn't score again as baskets by Ingrid Tanqueray and Lassiter sealed the deal.

Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 18 points and six rebounds for CCC Polkowice who lost by a margin of four points or less, for the fourth time this season.

COACH QUOTES

Quotes: USO Mondeville vs. CCC Polkowice

CCC Polkowice head coach Jacek Winnicki

"We lost four games by 2 points. We missed our first quarter and we lost the battle of the rebound.We have to secure the rebounds for the next game."

CCC Polkowice player Valeriya Berezhynska

"We were expecting another result, it was a close game. We didn't take avantage of them having one player out. We played good offense in the 2nd half but not enough to win."

USO Mondeville head coach Hervé Coudray

"EuroLeague [Women] is always hard. We lost one of our major players before half-time but we had many second chances. It's an important win. We need to win another game to keep our chances for the next round."

USO Mondeville player Amanda Lassiter

"I'm happy we won, we fought hard, stayed focused and we won. It's one of our best games: good defence and offence, even if we were down."